The fall sports season is in full swing, and while local teams have had their share of hits and misses, everyone is thrilled to be back in action, enjoying a normal campaign.

Here’s a look back at the week that was:

Football

Cape Elizabeth’s football team finally got to open its season last Friday and handled visiting Fryeburg Academy, 40-8. Nick Laughlin started the game with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Colin Campbell added a two-point conversion rush for an 8-0 advantage, which held into the second quarter. There, after the Raiders tied it up, Caden McDuffie scored on a 3-yard run and Laughlin added the two-point conversion rush and the Capers had a 16-8 halftime lead. Cape Elizabeth opened it up in the third quarter, as McDuffie and Laughlin hooked up on an 82-yard TD pass and McDuffie added the two-point conversion rush and McDuffie found Laughlin again, from 27-yards out, before throwing to Campbell for the two-point play for a 32-8 advantage. Brady Inman then connected with Ceroi Mello from 10-yards out and Logan McVeigh had a two-point conversion rush in the fourth period to account for the final score. Laughlin finished with nearly 300 all-purpose yards and three scores. The Capers go to 1-1 Gardiner Saturday.

Scarborough fell to 1-1 after a 20-6 home loss to Bonny Eagle. The Red Storm fell behind quickly, 13-0, but got on the board on Jayden Flaker’s second kickoff return touchdown of the year, a 65-yarder. Scarborough couldn’t score again and the Scots added a second quarter TD and held on for the victory. Flaker finished with 106 yards of offense, 55 rushing and 51 receiving.

South Portland got in the win column, 26-0, at Massabesic Friday to even its record at 1-1. Ryan Thurber’s 2-yard touchdown run made it 7-0 after one period. Nate Rende added a 3-yard second quarter rushing TD for a 13-0 advantage at the half. The Red Riots then put it away in the third period, as Jaelen Jackson had a 24-yard touchdown run and Johnny Poole scored on a 9-yard rush. South Portland hosts 1-1 Biddeford Friday.

Boys’ soccer

Scarborough’s boys’ soccer team is off to a 4-0 start, including recent shutout wins over visiting Thornton Academy (2-0) and host Westbrook (9-0). Against the Golden Trojans, Ashton Blanchette and Zander Haskell scored the goals. In the win over the Blue Blazes, Will Fallona scored three goals and Finn Pederson and Noah Batoosingh added two goals apiece. The Red Storm are home with South Portland Saturday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and welcome Portland Wednesday of next week.

South Portland dropped a 3-0 home decision to Windham last week, then improved to 2-1 Tuesday after a 4-0 victory at Thornton Academy. In the win, Divin Mpinga scored twice and Joey Hilton and Joey Perron added a goal apiece. The Red Riots welcomed Sanford Thursday, play at Scarborough Saturday and play host to Noble Tuesday of next week.

Cape Elizabeth dropped a 2-1 decision at Greely last week, then improved to 1-2 Tuesday with a 5-3 home victory over York. Sam Cochran had the lone goal against the Rangers. In the win, Tiernan Lathrop scored three times, while Ben Altenberg and Eddie Caldera also had a goal. The Capers host Freeport Friday and have a showdown at Waynflete Tuesday of next week.

Greater Portland Christian School takes a 1-0 record into Friday’s game at Rangeley. The Lions are at Chop Point Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ soccer

On the girls’ side, two-time reigning Class B champion Cape Elizabeth continues to dominate. The Capers downed visiting Wells (3-1) and Greely (3-0) last week, then Tuesday, improved to 4-0 after a 1-0 victory at York. Against the Warriors, Emily Supple scored twice and Penny Haydar also found the net. In the win over the Rangers, after a scoreless first half, Maggie Cochran set up Caroline Gentile, then Cochran scored a sensational goal for a 2-0 lead. The play began with Cochran trying to make a run at the goal, but she was surrounded by defenders, so she dribbled out of the box, then tried again to get through, couldn’t, stepped back, then, she looked up and from about 25 yards out, blanketed by multiple defenders, launched a rocket with her left foot into the top right corner of the goal.

“When we go against top teams, five or six defensive players get back and it’s hard to get around them,” Cochran said. “It was hard for me to find space. At some point, I had to turn and put my head up and shoot it. I could feel it (was good) when I hit it.”

“I genuinely think it’s a top-three goal in her high school career,” added Cape Elizabeth coach Graham Forsyth, who has witnessed some beauties. “To get the ball, dribble out of the box, into the box, back out, then back in and still have the awareness to know where you are and who’s around you, take a touch on your weaker foot and smash a ball top corner diagonally cross-goal, that’s just crazy, but that’s what Maggie Cochran does. She took over in the second half.”

Cochran then scored a second goal, from freshman C.C. Duryee, to clinch it.

“We don’t normally have zero goals at halftime, so that shook us up a little bit,” Gentile said. “We wanted to put our best foot forward and get goals in the second half.”

Gentile scored the lone goal at the Wildcats. The Capers visit Freeport Friday, then play host to Waynflete Tuesday of next week.

Scarborough, the three-time reigning Class A South champion, is also off to a 4-0 start, highlighted by a 1-0 win at Thornton Academy and a 17-1 home victory over Westbrook. Ali Mokriski scored the lone goal against the Golden Trojans. In the win over the Blue Blazes, Caroline Fallona led the way with four goals, Mokriski added three and Evelyn Boardman and Bridget Davis each had two. After going to South Portland Saturday, the Red Storm visit Portland Tuesday of next week.

South Portland fell to 0-3 Tuesday after a 4-2 home loss to Thornton Academy. Julianne Coyne and Ava Bryant scored for the Red Riots, who were at Sanford Thursday, host Scarborough Saturday and play at Noble Tuesday of next week.

Field hockey

Scarborough’s field hockey team started with four straight shutout wins, the most recent over host Biddeford (2-0) and visiting Sanford (4-0). Lily Finley, Halle Seguin, Daisy Stone and Lily Stone all scored against the Spartans. The Red Storm had a showdown at undefeated Cheverus Thursday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story), then host Gorham Saturday and welcome Bonny Eagle Tuesday of next week.

South Portland fell to 0-5 after recent losses at Thornton Academy (5-0), at home to Noble (3-0) and at Gorham (11-0). Emily Keefe made 24 saves against the Rams. The Red Riots host Massabesic Monday and go to Falmouth Wednesday.

Cape Elizabeth won its first two games decisively, 11-0 over visiting Wells and 5-0 over visiting Freeport. Against the Warriors, Grace Gray and Kaitlyn McIntyre each scored three times and Jenna Tuttle added two goals. In the win over the Falcons, Gray and Camden Woods both scored twice and Mia Frost also rattled the cage. The Capers hosted Lake Region Wednesday, go to Yarmouth Saturday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story) and welcome Gray-New Gloucester Monday.

Volleyball

Scarborough’s volleyball team is living up to preseason billing at the Class A favorite, improving to 4-0 after a 3-0 home win over Cheverus last Friday and a palpitating, come-from-behind, five-set (25-23, 19-25, 16-25, 25-17, 15-13) victory at Cape Elizabeth Monday. Against the Capers, Mya Jones had 21 points and nine service points, Gwen Dorsey added 12 service points and 10 kills (including the final point), Maddie Strouse had nine kills, Julia Strouse 14 assists and Natalie Moynihan finished with 11 kills.

“I think it just really showed us coming together as a team,” Jones said. “We’re so close and it’s so nice to show our full potential. This was a great test to show how we can play under pressure and I’m really proud. Cape’s been good since I was a freshman, so this was expected. It was a good challenge for us. It showed how tough we can be and how we can bring each other up no matter how down we are. We never stopped swinging and kept playing really powerful.”

“It’s easy when you’re just serving out a team or racking up kills, but we want to be tested like this,” Red Storm coach Kim Stoddard said. “We need to be tested like this if we want to end up where we want to end up at the end of the season. Win or lose, we’ll take the competition.”

Scarborough had another showdown at Gorham Thursday and visits two-time reigning Class B champion Yarmouth Thursday of next week.

“We’re very ready to play the top teams, bring it on,” Stoddard said. “The kids are fired up and they play at their best when they’re under pressure.”

Cape Elizabeth dropped a four-set (15-25, 25-16, 17-25, 17-25) home decision to Yarmouth last Thursday, snapped host Falmouth’s 31-match win streak with a straight-set (25-17, 25-9, 25-19) victory Saturday, then fell at home to Scarborough in five sets Monday to fall to 3-2 on the year. Against the Navigators, Maeve McQueeney had 19 saves while Anneliese Rudberg added 11 service points and seven kills.

“It’s really nice to be playing,” Rudberg said. “I missed the game last year. We have a lot of familiar faces and a lot of new faces and it’s great to jell as a team. We were proud of ourselves for not allowing runs. It’s a new Falmouth team, but we want to challenge every team with what we’ve got.”

“It feels good to beat anybody,” said Capers coach Sarah Boeckel. “The kids are psyched. It feels really good to be back. It’s awesome to have practice every day and have matches.”

In the loss to the Red Storm, Maeve McQueeney had 21 assists and 11 service points, Rudberg added 13 service points, nine kills and four blocks, Anastasia Chepurko had a dozen service points and Amy Rasco finished with eight kills and nine service points, but the Capers fell just short.

“I take nothing but positives from this,” Boeckel said. “Of course we wanted that ‘W,’ but I’m so impressed that we lost a tough game and came back. That’s the best we’ve blocked and swung and served. We played our game plan.”

Cape Elizabeth hosts York Friday and visits Wells Monday.

“It’s a learning process every day,” Boeckel said. “This will help us down the road.”

South Portland fell to 1-3 after three-set home losses to Marshwood (21-25, 23-25, 24-26) and Bonny Eagle (19-25, 15-25, 22-25). The Red Riots were at Yarmouth Thursday and go to Sanford Monday.

Cross country

Scarborough’s cross country teams joined Bonny Eagle and Westbrook at Massabesic for a meet last week. The boys had the top individual (Adam Bendetson, 17 minutes, 57.80 seconds), but were second to the Scots. The girls were third and were led by Rowan Driscoll (ninth, 24:58).

South Portland battled Biddeford, Gorham, Kennebunk and Portland. The boys were second behind the Bulldogs and were paced by Jacob Ramos (third, 15:24.47). The girls’ squad finished third and was led by Anna Brown (10th, 21:15.09).

Golf

Cape Elizabeth’s golf team improved to 5-0 Monday after a 6.5-0.5 win over York. Sam Ludington and Curtis Sullivan each had a team-best score of 41 over nine holes.

Scarborough improved to 2-1 after an 11.5-1.5 win over Cheverus last week. The Red Storm meet Falmouth next Tuesday in a critical match.

South Portland improved to 2-1 after wins earlier this week over Portland (11.5-1.5) and Cheverus (13-0). The Red Riots faced Falmouth Thursday.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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